[21][22] She ran for reelection on four ballot lines: Democratic, Conservative, Independence and Working Families Party, defeating Republican Clifton Bergfeld in November 2010 with 80 percent of the vote.

[24] As county clerk, Hochul had been in the process of implementing a new system for handling real estate documents when she left after being elected to Congress.

Jacobs said that $9,000 were spent in overtime to deposit checks and file unopened documents that had accumulated in the interim period after Hochul's departure, while the office was adjusting to the new system.

[24] Hochul ran in the May 24, 2011, special election to fill the seat in New York's 26th congressional district left vacant by the resignation of Chris Lee.

[33][34] A Washington Post article noted that in the face of a possible Hochul victory, there was already a "full blown spin war" about the meaning of the result.

[44] She also met with then-President Barack Obama about the economy and job creation and introduced a motion to restore the Republican cuts to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

[61] Hochul spearheaded Cuomo's "Enough is Enough" campaign to combat sexual assault on college campuses beginning in 2015, hosting and attending more than 25 events.

[69] At a July 2018 rally with Planned Parenthood, Hochul called upon the Republican-led State Senate to reconvene in Albany to pass the Reproductive Health Act.

[72][73] Hochul said that New York attorney general Letitia James's report on Cuomo documented "repulsive and unlawful behavior"[74] and praised his decision to resign.

"[76] Hochul was sworn in as governor at 12:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) on August 24 by New York Chief Judge Janet DiFiore in a private ceremony.

She announced that she would sign on to a letter with other governors to the federal government asking for more rent assistance, after New York received only $27.2 million of its nearly $1 billion request.

[112] On June 22, 2022, Hochul announced a $300 million plan to rebuild infrastructure in western New York communities with public and private funding.

[116] In late 2022, Hochul delayed the signing of the Digital Fair Repair Act, a bill that received rare bipartisan support.

[117] On December 28, 2022, Hochul signed the Digital Fair Repair Act (Senate bill 4104-A) into law, but not before adding an amendment that equipment manufacturers "may provide assemblies of parts rather than individual components".

[118] Independent repair analysts such as Louis Rossmann have claimed these amendments undermine the bill's purpose, and allege codification into law of "unethical practices".

LaSalle's nomination drew opposition from a wide variety of Democratic groups and constituencies, including numerous unions and trade groups, criminal justice advocates, elected officeholders, and local party affiliates, who raised concerns about his track record on issues relating to abortion, criminal justice, corporate interests, and the environment.

[121] Despite an extensive lobbying campaign by Hochul's allies, including support from U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected LaSalle's nomination by a 10–9 vote.

"[129][130][131] Following angry responses from a wide range of parties—including public officials and the Buffalo chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace—Hochul apologized for her "inappropriate analogy".

[129][130] In March 2024, Hochul instituted a policy in coordination with Eric Adams to deploy 750 National Guard soldiers to the NYC subway system and empower them to conduct random bag checks on subway-goers.

[137] At the time of the cancellation, the MTA had already purchased $500 million for equipment needed for congestion pricing and earmarked $15 billion for projects it expected to fund with the revenue.

[137] Hochul proposed raising the city's payroll tax for business owners to cover the lost revenue from the cancellation of the congestion pricing,[138] which New York lawmakers declined to consider.

Democratic Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris condemned how the program was derailed "at the last possible moment" before giving lawmakers less than 48 hours to create an alternative funding plan, calling it "irresponsible" and "inconsistent with principles of good governance".

[143] Senator Zellnor Myrie called it "incomprehensible" that Hochul claimed to care about cost of living while proposing a tax hike.

[147] In December 2024, Hochul vetoed a bill sponsored by Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. that would speed up the licensing of three new casinos in Queens[148] and signed a law capping out-of-pocket costs for EpiPens at $100 yearly.

[149] In January 2025, Hochul announced a proposal to provide free tuition for specific associate degree programs at State and City University of New York schools.

[151] On September 17, 2011, Robert J. McCarthy noted that Hochul and her election opponent Jack Davis agreed on their opposition to free trade.

[17] On November 19, 2011, Brian Tumulty of WGRZ reported that Hochul had voted for a balanced budget amendment, which she called "a bipartisan solution".

[17] In response to a constituent's question during a town hall meeting in February 2012, she was booed for saying that the federal government was "not looking to the Constitution" under the Obama administration requirement that employers provide their workers with insurance coverage for birth control.

[163] In 2023, Hochul advocated that the federal government expedite work permits to migrants to address a surge of immigration to New York, writing to President Joe Biden, "For me, the answer to these two crises—a humanitarian crisis and our workforce crisis—is so crystal clear and common sense.

"[164] On February 12, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Department of Justice was filing a civil lawsuit against Hochul as well as other officials from New York, such as Letitia James, over their handling of immigration issues in the state.